A Good Man Is Hard To Find

Evil is a label seldom used, unless it is a truly unspeakable act. There are many things that symbolize something evil. Whether a person or an act, symbols can tell us a lot about the story. While some symbols have dual meanings and can be left to interpretation with the story line, others are definitive in what they stand for. A color that is typically depicted as having a negative connotation is black, however in Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” this color can be interpreted in many ways in relation to evil. Black also symbolizes death. The “big black battered hearse-like automobile,” (O’Connor 189) speaks to death and sorrow. These emotions are prevalent during the abrupt killing of the family. Another instance where black symbolizes the idea of evil is Joyce Carol Oates’, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Black is most prevalent in the character Arnold Friend.

Night and darkness are both heavily involved in the overall mood of the atmosphere in “Young Goodman Brown.” The farther away he gets from his faith and the closer he gets to the ceremony the darker the surroundings get. Then once at the location of the ceremony there are pine trees surrounding the altar. Pine trees are dark green and provide shade from even the moonlight. Around the altar is the darkest and most evil spot in the whole forest and story. So it is no coincidence that while he is questioning where his faith is that is when he sees the darkest and most evil part in the forest. In “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” the forest where the family gets shot is also dark. They disappear into the darkness before they get shot. In both stories the darkness is where the evil act is committed or where the characters come to a large realization. Such as the grandmother realizing her son was dead and Young Goodman Brown becoming unsure of his